Housing

Issue: A Developer Plans To Build Affordable Housing For Teachers.

January 15, 2006

An exciting initiative is in the works. Tarragon South Development Corp. plans to build a mixed-use development in Lauderdale Lakes that could help ease the affordable-housing crisis for starting teachers in Broward County. School district and city officials should do everything in their power to help the project succeed.

If it does, it could lead to similar undertakings. Tarragon already has discussed with district officials a similar plan for Fort Lauderdale, and the district is also considering projects in Deerfield Beach and Coconut Creek. The more, the merrier.

Tarragon's "teacher village" proposal, which has not been formally approved by the School Board, would provide low-interest financing to prospective buyers of townhouses and condominiums. The school district would lend the teacher $20,000 for the down payment, with the loan forgiven if the teacher continued working in the district for five years.

Tarragon is setting a good example by stepping up to the plate to address a problem that has bedeviled public officials for years. As company Vice President Danny Bivins told Toni Marshall of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "you can't have a society without core employees having a place to live."

These days, with median townhouse prices at about $200,000, such places are few and far between. The county's future will be bleak indeed if teachers and other "core employees," like police, firefighters and nurses, cannot find affordable homes.

If Tarragon's plans succeed, it will prove to other developers that they can make a profit on affordable housing. That could establish some real momentum. The School Board should throw its full weight behind this worthy endeavor.

BOTTOM LINE: The project would help fill a glaring need, and merits full support.